ExhAustin

I’d barely shut my eyes for three hours when I found myself inexplicably awake, watching the sun attempt to crawl above the early morning Austin haze, the first tentative rays of light glinting off the endless rows of air conditioning units that neatly grow like cabbages across the flattop roofs of the surrounding buildings.

I had planned to get to bed relatively early last night, but somehow found myself at 1:30 AM, sitting in an IHOP with Darcy Burner and a bunch of veterans. Vote Vets co-founder and chairman Jon Soltz sat across the table, passionately detailing the Veteran Administration’s many bureaucratic nightmares as he relentlessly made his way through an enormous, whipped cream topped stack of chocolate chip pancakes. On his own unexpected politicization Soltz described heading to Iraq a true believer, only to have reality—political, military and otherwise—rip the veil from his eyes. “It was like learning that your parents are not really your parents,” Soltz explained as he tried to relate the sense of betrayal that accompanied his own disillusionment.

Perhaps the biggest surprise for those who don’t know squat about the liberal blogosphere might be that while 20-year-old slackers in bathrobes are in short supply here at Netroots Nation, veterans and military personnel are out in full force. At last night’s keynote, Gen. Wes Clark called out various groups one by one to stand up and be acknowledged… teachers, medical professionals, candidates, first responders, social workers, etc…. but by far the largest group in attendance were the veterans, and it was for them that the crowd reserved its loudest and longest round of applause.

It is an inside netroots joke that we sometimes refer to ourselves as “dirty fucking hippies,” the inherent punchline being that this description couldn’t be further from the truth. If we are radicals, we are the radicalized middle, a segment of the population historically loathe to forsake economic security for the sake of a mere cause, yet somehow provoked into producing a populist uprising. That veterans like Soltz and Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas Zuniga provide two of our most outspoken voices should come as no surprise from a broad movement that draws support from nearly every corner of American life.

For those who hope or imagine that Darcy’s close connections with the netroots will ultimately prove to hurt her standing with her district’s suburban voters, well, you should have been at IHOP last night, where Darcy was literally embraced by veterans who trust that she will deliver the kind of leadership, respect and support that they deserve. Yet more evidence that we are in fact a netroots nation.

No wonder he hates the netroots so much. We’re not plugged into the right wing dominated and intimidated traditional media. We don’t watch the stupid talking heads. We can’t have our “perceptions” managed by the Republicans and their masters.

Name-call all you want Silly Mark in order to control the “perceptions”. Your nightmare is only going to get worse.

“The ASN announced July 7 that uranium-tainted waste liquids from the Tricastin nuclear plant, in southern France 30 miles northwest of Avignon, had leaked into surrounding rivers and topsoil. Inhabitants of the Vaucluse department were ordered to refrain from drinking water, eating locally caught fish, and irrigating crops with potentially contaminated water.”

(Quoted from Time Magazine under fair use.)

Roger Rabbit Commentary: Some sage once said the machine hasn’t yet been invented that some fool won’t figure out a way to misuse, or words to that effect. The problem with nuclear power is, and always will be, that it’s vulnerable to human error — to be precise, human errors that no community can afford.

The truth about nuclear power is that it’s so risky it’s not insurable. The only way it’s viable as a business is if it’s granted tort immunity and its liability risks are shifted to its potential victims, which is exactly what the Price-Anderson Act does. Without Price-Andreson, not a single nuclear plant would operate in the U.S. What Price-Anderson does is make the public assume the risk of what can — and, you can bet on it, will — go wrong at your local nuclear power plant.

That’s like passing a law that says 12-year-olds won’t be required to pay for the car accidents they cause to make it feasible to give drivers licenses to 12-year-olds.

“WASHINGTON — For three years, the Air Force’s top leadership sought to spend counterterrorism money on ‘comfort capsules’ on military planes that ferry senior officers and civilian leaders, with at least four top generals involved in selecting the color of the capsules’ carpet and leather chairs, according to internal e-mails and budget documents.

“Production of the first capsule — two sealed rooms that can fit into the fuselage of a large military aircraft — and four mobile pallets containing swiveling leather chairs with footrests has begun.

“Air Force officials say the government needs the new capsules to ensure that leaders can talk, work and rest comfortably in the air. But the top brass’s preoccupation with luxury in wartime has alienated lower-ranking Air Force officers, congressional staff and a nonprofit group that calls the program a waste of money.

“Air Force documents spell out how each capsule is to be ‘aesthetically pleasing and furnished to reflect the rank of the senior leaders using the capsule,’ with beds, a couch, a table, a 37-inch flat-screen monitor with stereo speakers and a full-length mirror.”

(Quoted under fair use.)

Roger Rabbit Commentary: Air Force? Aren’t they the same guys who gamed the aerial tanker contract to take it away from Boeing and give it to the French? I thought Rethugs despised the French? Oh, that’s right, they like France now that a rightwinger is running that country.

Last week’s The Nation says that Texas is going to go blue, probably not this year, but soon enough. Demographics being reality (which is something Republicans will never grasp), they have no shot at the White House if Texas goes blue. Adios, my Republican amigos.

Very cool, Goldy. I agree with Proud leftist…I wish I had your gig. The thing about vets is they have already been bullshitted enough, and that they see Darcy as someone who can help them, says a lot to me.

Veterans like Soltz and Daily Kos? Yeah they are real heros, Soltz worked in the motor pool and never saw combat and Kos was in Germany during Desert Storm. They served but nobody wanted to depend on them in battle.

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